My Week of Sweet Potatoes

The two recipes I made on Monday night and Wednesday night both yielded leftovers, so I've had sweet potatoes in some shape or form each day this week so far.  Not a bad way to live!

Sweet Potato and White Bean Soup

Nice and easy.  I had a lot of stuff to do on Monday night but figured I'd make this so I wouldn't have to rely on snackage for dinner or a frozen dinner for Tuesday's lunch.  I nearly used this recipe, since I had everything except the chipotles (chipotle Tabasco sauce does nicely in its place), but I didn't feel like dirtying a lot of dishes or futzing with the Cuisinart.  Instead, I used this recipe, sorta kinda, and got just enough out of it to feed Steve and myself and have leftovers for today.

Obviously, because of the vegetarian thing (one month, 3 days and holding!), I left out the chicken.  I also didn't have any chili powder, so I substituted about two teaspoons of chipotle Tabasco sauce.  At the end, I added a generous amount of finely chopped cilantro as suggested.  Yum!  Like a cassoulet with a kick.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Wraps with Chimichurri

I was inspired by this recipe to combine sweet potatoes and black beans in a wrap, but I didn't care to use all these ingredients when so many of the flavor additions seemed to be for the chicken.  So, I kept it simple by cooking the sweet potatoes and then mashing them with some Smart Balance, cinnamon and nutmeg.  To make the chimichurri, I used something like one cup of Italian parsley, half a cup of cilantro, two tablespoons each of lime juice and olive oil, and maybe half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  (I eyeballed everything.)  Then I just heated the tortillas and assembled the wraps. 

This was so good that I dug in before taking the picture!  I also discovered that using Italian parsley makes a world of difference with chimichurri, since it imparts a more distinctive flavor than the curly kind that I grow in the backyard.  Not that the curly kind's so bad, but it doesn't stand up to other strong flavors and is just kind of...there.

Tonight was a replay of the Chinese hot pots that used up nearly all of the remaining cilantro.  Tomorrow I'll be enjoying some Arts and Draughts at the Columbia Museum of Art, but I'll be back in the kitchen in a couple of days.  Good night!